The present disclosure relates generally to managing users in an application client. Online systems may allow users to interact with each other. Members of the online systems may use the applications offered by the online systems for many years or even decades. Some online systems separate their users into different groups based on server location. Thus, users located in the United States may be hosted on a server in the United States, and users located in Asia may be hosted on a server in Asia. Generally, users hosted on one server cannot interact with users hosted by a different server. This type of separation may be referred to as sharding. Sharding is a type of partitioning of data that separates large data sets into smaller and more easily manageable parts called shards. Shards may also be referred to as “zones,” “realms,” or “servers” (because often a single server supports a single shard). In many online systems, including online multiplayer games, online shopping platforms, and social media networks, users are sharded into different zones. Often, each zone is created as a separate instance of the application and is hosted by a separate server. Consequently, users in separate zones generally cannot interact with one another.